What's the stupidest thing you've seen a cager doing?

[Silver Penguin]

the five stupidest things i've seen, i didn't so much see as do.not bragging. just stating the facts.

in my younger years of course.

i don't mind if god and my mom knows about them, but i wont tell this crowd.

derek

So you tried car surfing too? I think I did but my memory of that particular evening is rather hazy.

Jill

 

[v65]

So you tried car surfing too?

That's way more fun with snow banks to bounce off!

 

[germany]

I once saw one of Rocklin's "finest" make a left hand turn with his left hand out the window and his right hand holding a cell phone to his ear. I have no idea how he made that turn.

My favorite is people who come up from behind you and force their way in front of you even though NO ONE is behind you. California drivers (and those that have transplaned to Washington) just cannot stand to be last. I like being last; less of a chance of being rear ended.

My other favorite is people who cross into my lane on 2 lane twisty roads. That excites me the most! If anyone is going to cross the line it's gonna be me damn it.

 

[Toecutter]

My favorite is people who come up from behind you and force their way in front of you even though NO ONE is behind you.

What??? :blink:

 

[RayW]

And that seat-pissing driver is the one who will take me out, and that egregious criminal act will be dismissed with "Honest Officer, I didn't see him".

Full point.

This is the one that occupies my thoughts on the road. The negligence out there is truly criminal.

Just another thought on the "I didn't see the motorcycle" excuse...

Several years ago I was aproching an intersection in my Taurus wagon where I was planning on making a left turn. Checking traffic I saw a bike coming towards me and knew it was close enought that I only had a split second to make the "turn or not to turn" decision. I took the turn. Now...I doubt that I caused the bike rider any problems because I normally drive pretty conservative but I did notice that he passed behind me a LOT sooner than I expected.

Got me to thinking....I was sure he was further away than that....but while driving we are conditioned to judge distance by something the size of a car. A bike, being much smaller, seems further away. So, I'm thinking that a lot of the "I didn't see him" excuses are actually that the bike regestered as so far away as to not be a factor. I wonder if some of the larger bikes, like Goldwings, have as many "didn't see him" incedents as smaller bikes?

Ray

 

[Toecutter]

I was sure he was further away than that....but while driving we are conditioned to judge distance by something the size of a car.

Regardless of size, distance is only half the judgment that needs to be made on a moving object. Velocity is the other half of the equation, and most people won't pull their heads out of their asses long enough to do a proper size-up before pulling the trigger. I watch it happen in front of me regularly. They pull up, then go, and there's NFW they looked long enough to properly determine closing speed. If they get straightened out before you rear-end 'em, it's your fault, so they couldn't care less, unless you're a cop or in a logging truck.

Go shopping sometime. I find that most people push carts just like they drive cars, like they're the only entity in the universe. Like Great Reader Kim Jong Il say, Why are people sofa king stupid?

I got admonished today for "all the negative comments" about other drivers. There were three cars who had rear-ended each other, and all the occupants were just parked in the middle lane of a major thoroughfare, exchanging insurance info. Some people's kids....Darwin's losing the battle.

 

[germany]

My favorite is people who come up from behind you and force their way in front of you even though NO ONE is behind you.

What??? :blink:

Sounds a little funny the way I wrote it.

This happens to me everytime I drive on I-5 or the 99 (mostly in CA) but my best example happened in Washington.

I was riding in a group of three in the right lane to make a split onto another highway. We're bringing up the rear in a group of about 12 cars in light traffic and we're taking it easy; we've never been in the area before and we hadn't seen a LEO in quite a while.

I look in my left mirror to see an Eclipse coming up on me fast in the lane to my left. I check my right mirror and confirm that there is NO ONE behind me in my lane. By his rate of speed, it looks like he is going to blow past the entire line of cars.

A second later, the Eclipse passes me, slows down and the driver starts looking over his sholder and coming into my lane. I check my mirrors again and still NO ONE behind me in my lane (why didn't he just fall in line?). I back off because he's coming over anyway separating me from my group and the second rider accelerates to get out of his way.

I pass him and rejoin my group in the middle so I didn't have to cut off Eclipse. Immediately he proceeds to pass the three of us (just the three of us) and gets back into the lane cutting off the leader. He spends the next 5 minutes in front of us, just us. The traffic was still light and the next group of cars was about 1500 ft behind us. He makes no effort to pass anyone else (plenty of opportunities) and keeps a reasonable distance from the car in front of him.

As we come up on another split, this time to the left, we get in the left lane and start passing (contrary to many people's beliefs this is customary when you are occupying the left lane). I check my mirror and I'll be a sonuvabitch if that Eclipse didn't pull out into the left lane and pass the car in front of him and pull back into the right lane.

I check my mirrors a lot (it's the way I was taught) and it didn't take me long to notice this behavior but it took a while to come to the conclusion that people just don't like to be last.

 

[Last Chance]

Wow, I'm gonna have to think about that STUPIDEST???
That'll take some processing time, but I do have a ready candidate from last Sunday. She's in against some heavy competition, though, and I'm not sure how to weight it for the ones who have nearly killed me.

There will be extra consideration given to anyone who had to take evasive action to stay alive.

Oh, there are soooo many worthy candidates. JB nailed one, for sure, but that is old hat in CA.

I would have to say the guy crossing 4 lanes of heavy traffic at triple digits in front of me in order to "make" his off ramp, only to find no room at the inn. Unfortunately, I, in my Semi, was the reason he was "unsighted". (But everyone knows there will be "space" in front of a big rig...so just jump in." I had to try to avoid him and the 7-10 other vehicles he caused to crash into each other as he careened out of control back across the freeway. I almost missed most of them. I really need to retire from this job!

LC

 

[Silver Penguin]

Here's another one that just makes you shake your head and ask WTF?

I'm driving to work in my little covertible, just putzing along in the far right lane at about 60mph, in a line of traffic. I'm in no great hurry, taking it easy as I approach the off ramp. Traffic in the other five lanes is moderate and moving at a good clip. A glance in the mirror shows Mr. Impatient gaining ground on me in his mini-van. The two lanes to our left are completely clear but he's still barreling up on my backside. He's way too close now so I ease off the gas. He gets closer. A dab on the brakes doesn't get the message through to him. He's really close now, and there's still plenty of room to pass.

I shift down and drive slower. My off ramp is coming up. He gets ever closer, if that's possible. I'm very annoyed with this idiot now, and wondering just what's going on, when he pulls onto the SHOULDER to pass me.

With my Z3 already in a low gear, I could have left him in the dust with ease. It sure was tempting but common sense said to let him go.

To this day, I cannot think what on earth he was doing.

Jill

 

[Kevin Daly]

With my Z3 already in a low gear, I could have left him in the dust with ease. It sure was tempting but common sense said to let him go.To this day, I cannot think what on earth he was doing.

Jill

Never play with large blocks of steel at high speed with somone you dont know but who wants to play

Every once and a while (read: every other time i get on my bike) I find that there is some idiot that wants to "play"

Examples:

1) swinging wide into the oncoming lane when they think you are going to pass out of a corner with a clear LOS

2) accelerate when you are going to pass

3) speed up on straights then crawl through corners

4) ass riders on twisties

my instinct always tells me "run away." If they are ahead I pull off or slow down, if they are behind I ride my ride until i find an opertunity to walk away and I run!

My bet is that a lot of head ons are caused by idiots who attempt to pin someone in the other lane by accelerating when being passed as opposed to decelerating. One of my dumbass brothers used to do this to people and pertend he didnt know they were there. We will never know how many people get it this way because it is so rare that anyone can be caught. I heard reciently that a group of HS kids were killed in a headon with a truck. A fourth car in the back said that when the kids tried to pass the other (third) car it accelerated, pinning the kids in the other lane. Something like five kids died in that car. While the police tried to bust the looser in the third car based on the witnesses account, i dont think anything happened. this was this past year if anyone knows the story better.

 

[Toecutter]

I find that there is some idiot that wants to "play" Examples:

2) accelerate when you are going to pass

I haven't found that to be much of an issue on the FJR.

 

[Kevin Daly]

I find that there is some idiot that wants to "play" Examples:

2) accelerate when you are going to pass

I haven't found that to be much of an issue on the FJR.

On straghts no problem (unless they pull a number 1 on you). If you are pass ing on a lot of roads in WV were the corners come one after another for miles, there is little margin for error.